All Was Golden
by LuckyBlackCat
Summary: Post canon. Reyn and Sharla get married. Reyn still can't believe his luck. Requested by ILoveKittyCats.


Reyn is in a panic.

He knows it's not like him; usually he's the laidback one, the one who laughs after being chased halfway across Gaur Plain (or what's left of it) by monsters. He's not laughing now- he's sweating in the midsummer heat and Shulk is saying something to him but he's only half listening.

"Bionis to Reyn?" calls Shulk and he snaps back from the edge. If he goes over, he knows all he'll be able to do is curl up in a ball and tremble with fear.

"Ten minutes until the ceremony," Shulk is saying. "I've got the rings."

"What if she doesn't turn up?" blurts Reyn.

"Come on, Sharla wouldn't do that to you," says Shulk.

"She might realise she's made a mistake. Maybe Otharon convinced her I'm not good enough for her after all- I mean, it's true but-"

"That's _not_ true!" says Shulk, emphatically. "And anyway, she agreed to marry you months ago."

Reyn grimaces. Shulk hasn't heard the half of it. Because of what happened with Gadolt he'd spent months trying not only to convince Sharla to marry him but also that he wasn't going to go and get himself killed. It would have been annoying if the fear in her eyes hadn't been very, very real.

His non-response clearly worries Shulk. "Has Sharla ever let you down before?"

"No." He doesn't even have to think about it.

"So don't worry," says Shulk, clapping him on the shoulder. Reyn peers at his best friend, still wide-eyed and floppy fringed even though he'd temporarily held the power of a god. It's been years since he last fought with the Monado but to Reyn his silhouette still looks strange without it.

"It's time," said Shulk and Reyn gulps. He tries to remember to breathe and keep his head clear. Sharla agreed to marry him. Sharla's never let him down.

They head out of the beach hut and down to the water's edge, where Sharla wanted to have the ceremony. Reyn gulps when he sees the crowd that's gathered. There are a lot of people he doesn't recognise. They're not here for him, he realises, They've come to see Sharla. Juju leaps up and waves at him from where he's standing. A gaggle of teenage girls watching him sighs- since Juju got tall, he's had a fanclub.

As he and Shulk take their places at the front, he spots Dunban who gives him a nod and Riki, who is trying to stop one of his littlepon from stepping on poisonous shellfish. It's probably a good job Sharla's medic friends are in attendance.

The man conducting the ceremony is a Homs called Alfred. He knows Sharla because she helped remove one of his front teeth after he got into a fistfight with a Krabble. Reyn reminds himself not to stare at the gap. He looks at Shulk instead, who gives him another reassuring pat.

The crowd quiets all of a sudden and Reyn turns to see if something's wrong.

But Sharla's arrived, led by Otharon and trailed by Melia and Fiora. She's got flowers in her hair and she's dressed in something white, also decorated with flowers. Reyn watches her approach and begins to get the sinking feeling that this must all be some kind of dream. He pinches the inside of his wrist to check and it hurts. Does that mean this is real or he's having a nightmare? He isn't sure anymore. It's too hot and his wrists itch beneath the starched cuffs of his suit. Before the feeling can properly manifest into panic, Sharla takes his hand.

"Someone cleans up nicely," she says in his ear.

Reyn can only make a choked noise in reply. Partly because of Sharla's breathtaking beauty and partly because he's just noticed that Otharon has chosen to attend the wedding carrying his ether rifle.

XxX

Much, much later after the ceremony is done Reyn is feeling much more relaxed. He's hanging out near the wedding cake, tired of socialising but not tired of watching Sharla. She dances with anyone who asks, even one of her patients who's famous for having a terrible limp. Her skin glows golden in the warm light of the setting sun and Reyn wonders what he did to get so lucky.

Sharla sees him watching her and beckons him over. He shakes his head and so she comes to him.

"What's up?" she says. "Feeling tired?"

"Ah. I just don't want to step on anyone's feet again," said Reyn. "Melia's foot went all-"

"She's fine," said Sharla. "Accidents happen."

Reyn thinks about protesting but decides to let it go. "I'm happy you married me," he says instead. "Even though I'm an idiot."

"You're _not_ an idiot," said Sharla. She thinks. "Always."

"So what you really mean is-"

"Fine! You're _my_ idiot."

"Sharla!"

"Some of the time. And some of the time you're the smartest person I know."

Reyn smiles. "Hey. You don't have to make me feel better, you know?"

"I'm not. You notice things about people. Like Shulk needing a friend and Juju needing someone to look up to. You're more perceptive than most at that kind of thing."

"You're making me blush," says Reyn and Sharla puts a hand to his cheek. She leans in and kisses him gently.

There's a smashing noise in the distance. Someone's knocked their drink over. Perhaps Dunban. He'd looked a little on the teary side earlier and when he'd given Reyn a tight hug and proclaimed how proud he was, his words had been a little slurred.

"Maybe we should get going," says Sharla. There's a trace of coyness in her words that leaves Reyn unable to do anything but nod mutely.

As they slip away into the night, Reyn wonders how, in a world without gods, he can still feel so blessed.


End file.
